I Became A Flashing Genius At The Magic Academy - Chapter 65

Just a few minutes ago.

The ballroom.

Da-landan-dan, da-rala-dan

The rhythm surged, spiraling into a frenzy that human legs could never hope to match.

Yet, even amidst the escalating tempo, Jecky danced effortlessly.

After all, she had four legs.

“W-what is that…”

Keeping up with two legs was already a struggle. Four? Unthinkable.

"What the hell is that...!" Flame looked at it and exclaimed, her face turning pale.

"Stop, Jecky! If you get consumed by the role of Duchess Aeron any further, there's no turning back!"

"Shut up!"

"Listen to me! Once you lose yourself, it’ll be irreversible!"

"What do you know?!"

Fueled by rage, Jecky’s movements grew even wilder.

Though her steps never strayed from the foundation of modern ballroom dance, she veered between waltz and tango, offbeat and chaotic.

She danced as if two partners moved as one, the rhythm surging, patterns unraveling in unpredictable bursts.

Jecky’s magic thrilled in all directions.

Soundwaves pulsed through the air, musical notes crashing like blades, while piercing rays carved through the room, leaving shattered fragments in their wake.

Yet even as the three girls endured, two more legs sprouted from Jecky’s form. Six legs in total.

"Ugh!"

One of the collapsed students gagged.

At that point, Jecky’s performance teetered from mesmerizing beauty into something grotesque and monstrous. However, the nobles still cheered and applauded to the rhythm of Aeron’s dance.

"As expected! How beautiful!"

"You’re the finest dancer of all!"

"Punish those foolish challengers, Duchess Aeron!"

"No one compares to Duchess Aeron’s brilliance!"

When Duchess Aeron stomped on the ground, fireworks exploded, lights shattered in a splendid display, and specks of light fluttered in the air.

The space warped, a crimson stage rose beneath Jecky’s feet as red poured from the walls, unfurling into a royal carpet.

With six legs, Jecky claimed the terrain itself, her dance consuming everything around her.

Flame bit her lip as waves of offensive magic grew stronger.

‘This is insane…’

Her toes tingled, growing numb.

Eisel’s legs trembled, barely holding her upright.

Hong Bi-Yeon, fueled only by sheer determination, had endured this long, but even she was at her limit.

Flame clenched her fists, her breath ragged.

'At this rate...'

Jecky had lost herself to Aeron’s persona, twisting the story in ways none of them had foreseen.

‘What on earth should I do...? I prepared so thoroughly for this day, but I can't seem to match her no matter what.’

Tatatang!

As three out of the six legs touched the ground and matched the rhythm, an enormous storm of mana swept Flame’s entire body. It made it difficult to even move, let alone dance.

She clung desperately to her willpower, fighting the seductive allure of the magic.

Kkaaang!

Suddenly, the sound of a collision reached their ears.

"Kyaaah!"

Jecky’s movements instantly froze.

"What...?"

"W-What's happening...?"

It lasted only a heartbeat.

But in that instant, a towering, spider-like shadow flickered across Jecky’s form.

It was for a brief moment, but the cheers of the NPC nobles paused for that instant, and the girls quickly caught onto the gap in timing.

'Now!'

They didn’t understand what had caused it, but hesitation was not an option.

Seizing the moment, they danced and unleashed their magic.

Golden light beams, jagged ice shards, and blazing flames struck Jecky’s body.

"Kyaaaah!!"

Jecky howled in agony. Ice crawled up her legs, light pierced her shoulders, and fire scorched her face.

Her form twisted further, legs elongating and hardening into spider-like limbs.

“Y-you brats… Aaaah!!!”

Kkaang!

With every sound of something shattering, the spidery figure seemed to grow from Jecky’s body.

The nobles no longer fervently praised Jecky’s dance.

"Duchess Aeron..."

"She’s no longer…"

"Beautiful…"

The condition to defeat Duchess Aeron was to dance even more beautifully and mesmerize the nobles.

However, to fulfill that condition, was it necessary to dance more beautifully than Duchess Aeron herself?

Perhaps stripping her of beauty would suffice.

Crash! Bang! Crash!!

"Kyaaaahhhhhh!"

As the intervals of the sound coming from the clock tower became shorter, Jecky screamed in even greater pain. Her dance was no longer a dance but a convulsive struggle.

'What is that sound?’

Hong Bi-Yeon, Eisel, and Flame instinctively looked up at the ceiling while dancing.

Then, they gasped in astonishment, their mouths hanging open.

Through the ceiling, they saw the expansive passage of the clock tower where Baek Yu-Seol flew freely, engaged in a fierce battle with the commander blade spider.

‘I don't know why... but every time he attacks the spider, Duchess Aeron seems to weaken…’

Someone was helping them.

And it was Baek Yu-Seol.

The realization fueled their resolve.

The dance intensified, magic sweeping across the stage in waves of frost and fire.

Ta-da-da-dan da-da-da-da-dan~

The dance became more intense, and the magic engulfed and froze the stage fiercely.

Creak, creak!!

Jecky, or Duchess Aeron, reached her limit.

The whites of her eyes turned blood-red.

A sign of complete corruption by dark magic.

"Damn it, damn it... Damn it! Why, why, why, why, why?! Why do you keep interfering with me? Are you that jealous? Can't I receive some attention? Can't I be popular? Why, why are you doing this to meeeee?!!!"

At that moment, two extra legs sprouted from the ends of her skirt, making a total of eight.

Jecky didn’t notice. Instead, she reveled in her supposed brilliance, pushing herself to the edge as her rhythm spiraled into madness.

The music reached its climax.

A dance of death, heralding the end.

'Almost there…!'

One more blow.

A single, decisive strike.

'Something…’

Then—

Swoosh!

A piercing whistle split the air.

From above, a black meteor plummeted.

Thud!! Crash!

It struck Duchess Aeron with devastating force.

The floor shattered, debris scattered, and chandeliers crumbled to dust.

"Ugh, ah!"

The cadets hastily cast shields to block the debris. Fortunately, none were struck directly, sparing them from serious injuries.

"What... What's happening?"

"I-I don't know. Something..."

As the dense fog veiling the stage dissipated, the fallen object’s identity came into view.

"That... Could it be…?!"

It was the commander blade spider, the one that Baek Yu-Seol said he would face alone.

"Is... Is it dead...?"

The commander blade spider remained motionless, cold, and lifeless.

Completely dead.

The students’ expressions wavered, their faces frozen in disbelief. Not a single word of amazement escaped their lips.

“A first-year student hunted a risk level 4 monster alone...?"

“What...?"

Their minds struggled to process what they were witnessing. It was said that overwhelming shock could paralyze speech. Today, they understood the truth of that saying.

Twitch!

At that moment, the commander blade spider suddenly twitched. The students quickly took a combat stance.

No, to be precise, something beneath the commander blade spider twitched.

Creak, thud!

Flipping over the black carcass, Jecky revealed herself, lying beneath it.

"Huuuh... You keep interfering... with me..."

One of the students stumbled and collapsed, overwhelmed… not by Jecky’s return but by her grotesque transformation.

"What... is that?"

Her completely transformed spider-like appearance was utterly horrifying.

"Flame..."

Jecky slowly lifted her head and turned it in the direction where Flame stood.

Similarly struggling to hold onto her sanity, Flame took a step forward.

"Jecky..."

"Ha, ha! You couldn’t beat me with your dance, so you resorted to these tricks, huh? Because you can't dance more beautifully than me, right? How pathetic. Truly pathetic. You’re just like me, aren’t you? Jealous when someone more beautiful appears! Hahaha! I’m glad… I’m not the only one!

She was not in her right mind. It was truly irreversible now. However, Jecky was still healthy, while the students had no strength left to face her.

‘Where is Baek Yu-seol...?’

They looked up at the ceiling, but they couldn't see him.

There was no choice.

They had to follow the method that Eisel used on Duchess Aeron in the original novel.

They had to do the same thing.

"Eisel, summon the ice mirror."

"... Yes."

Understanding the request immediately, Eisel swiftly swung her staff and tapped it on the ground.

Boom-!

A tall wall of translucent ice appeared and its surface smoothed out, turning into a mirror.

As Flame hurried toward it, Jecky blocked her path.

She stretched her lips up to her ears, forming a sinister smile.

"What trickery now? Cheap tactics again? Is that all you’re good for?"

"That’s right." Flame shrugged. "So… why not take a look in the mirror?"

"Hmph, are you trying to compare who's more beautiful? Of course, there's no need to ask. Obviously, it's me..."

"But why is it so quiet?"

"...Huh?"

‘Come to think of it…’

Something was off.

Even if the music had stopped, why couldn't she hear the cheers of the nobles? Even after she resurrected as the most beautiful being in the world?

‘What... is going on...?’

Jecky slowly looked around the plaza. Some people avoided her gaze as if they were afraid, some retched, some frothed at the mouth and fainted, and some shed tears.

‘This... can't be happening, right?’

They were supposed to love only her.

It was instinct.

When she turned her head to look at the mirror…

"Ah."

Jecky’s pupils shook.

The woman in the mirror was no longer a woman.

Eight sharp legs, spider's eyes, unsettling horns of unknown identity, and a black sticky shell protruding from her skin.

She raised her arms subconsciously, hoping that the mirror was an illusion.

"What’s this...?"

That wasn't the clean and beautiful arm of a girl. It was more akin to the legs of an arthropod.

She lowered her head.

Now that she thought about it, hadn't she been naturally moving her body with eight legs at some point?

A spider.

Yes, she was a spider.

Her beauty- the perfection she cherished - was gone.

Twisted into the very thing she despised.

‘Ah...?’

Horror dawned, slow and merciless.

And Jecky realized—

This was the cruelest torment of all.